


Step Out Of The Fire

by truelyesoteric



Series: Step Verse [2]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aliens, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-28
Updated: 2012-12-28
Packaged: 2017-11-22 18:35:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/612933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truelyesoteric/pseuds/truelyesoteric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war has been fought, the spoils come slowly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Step Out Of The Fire

Jared Padalecki was thirty-one years old, the human leader of the rebellion-retired, and a horse farmer.

When the Jeep drove up to where he was mending a fence, there was a gun on his saddlebag and a knife in his boot.

Old habits die hard.

He had been twenty when the Earth was invaded and he had been the only human embroiled in the plan of the Nine, the only ones who could possibly save them. He had been twenty-four when the human race looked to him to help them survive. He was the only person that was completely trusted by the Nine and by the remaining human population. He had been the one offering a solution for people. 

He had given them Jensen's voice and Jensen's face, and the tactical maneuvers that Jensen had taught him.

He could implement them better, but they were still Jensen's.

Jensen was the face, the mouthpiece, and Jared was Jensen’s. He was always Jensen's Jared. That’s how he was known. 

Jensen was years gone, but Jared was still Jensen's Jared. It is something he wears with as much pride as heartache.

When the Jeep drove up he didn't move to greet the vehicle with the dangerous side of his gun. He knew this Jeep.

Chris sat on the driver's side, both hands visible on the wheel, waiting for Jared's approval.

Old habits die hard.

They knew the score, they had saved the world, and they knew what caution could win.

Finally Jared nodded, not sure he really wanted to let Chris anywhere near him.

Chris got out of his car and stood outside of it. His hands were at his side, palms visible.

"You came a ways to say something," Jared finally said.

Their last words had been at the top of their lungs. Their last meeting had involved fists.

Jared had walked away two years ago. He had walked away from everything he had worked to create and sustain after the world got their relief. After they had beaten the invaders. After they had won.

Though he had never fought for the cause, Jared had fought for safety. He had fought for a pair of green eyes.

 

He had lived his life for green eyes that had believed. When the battle was done, there was nothing left that Jensen believed in. When they won, Jared had nothing left to believe in. He had done everything he had ever planned to do.

Now, Jensen's Jared had nothing left.

Jared had left headquarters angry and empty and clawing at everyone. He had always stood toe to toe with the Nine, he never minded getting in their faces. He was constantly in their space, begging them to push back.

Chris, being nothing more than human, was the one who had no qualms about hitting back. From time to time Chris had hit him when no one else could control him, when no one else could touch him without killing him. Chris had borne the brunt with almost unrelenting pride.

They had known that Jared needed to go. But the new society was still in need of inspiration. When a favor was needed, when something needed to be smoothed over, that is when Jensen's Jared was called on. One of the Nine came in person to make the request. Usually, it was one of the girls that came to ask him for favors. He and Chris had a tendency to go for the jugular first and then ask questions.

Jared knew he was always going to be needed for peace talks. The push behind the Rebellion, Jensen's shadow, saying things he barely believed in were needed to make things okay. 

He could make things okay for everybody but himself.

Jared didn't relax a muscle. If Chris was here now it might mean that fists were going to be involved. 

"They found him," Chris said, holding his ground.

That was something so unexpected it took Jared a moment to process it. There was only one thing that those words could mean.

"There is nothing left to find," Jared bit out, trying to kill the sudden sick feeling in his stomach.

He didn't want to think that Jensen had been out there somewhere and that he never looked for him. He didn't want to believe that he could see Jensen again. He had wanted to hear that phrase so badly for so many years, but now it was too late.

Jared had too much blood on his hands. He had made decision in the name of peace that had killed millions. He was barely the man from before. He knew it was too late to really be Jensen’s Jared again, not to Jensen. It was too late.

Jared didn’t want to hear anything like hope. He hated himself too much these days.

"He doesn't remember anything from the moment before he got his powers onward," Chris continued gruffly.

Jared closed his eyes. He remembered the first second he had seen Jensen, in San Antonio, they had been so young and for a few months they had been carefree.

As much as he was no longer the boy he was then, those were the memories that had given him solace in life. Those were the memories that won the war.

Jared Padalecki was the one who orchestrated the war, but Jensen had been the one who had given Jared the strength. Jared had carried the Rebellion. Jensen, and later the memory of Jensen, had carried Jared.

Now Jensen would remember none of that. The happiest days of Jared's life now existed only in his own head. Jared closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

_Jared had opened his eyes when the shaking stopped, and looked up at Jensen who was still shivering through his orgasm._

_“I love you,” Jared had said huskily. “I needed that.”_

_Jensen had pulled out and rolled to Jared’s side._

_“I don’t know what I would do without you,” Jensen had whispered, touching and needing like he never could in public. “There’s just so much that is being asked. I want to walk away some days, but this is just so important.”_

_“It isn’t forever,” Jared had hoped._

_Jensen had closed his eyes and spoke in a dream like voice. “When we are free, we’ll get a farm. You and I. I’ll grow things and you can get horses.”_

_Jared had grinned, four years older than when they met, but still wanting to believe in the words from Jensen’s mouth. Everybody believed in him._

_“I’m going to love you forever,” Jensen had said._

Jared had believed that too.

In the end that appeared to be a lie.

Jared opened his eyes and answered blankly. "Then you don't need me."

He walked into the house, knowing that Chris would either follow with more information or leave. Jared really didn’t know which he would rather Chris do.

Jared was one of the few who would turn his back on Chris. He didn’t fear anything anymore, and beneath the flying fists he knew that Chris would always have his back.

He poured himself a drink, something he rarely did. It was ten in the morning, but at the moment that didn’t matter. He didn’t pour Chris a drink, but he left a glass out and the bottle uncorked.

Chris poured a cup and began talking after a long swallow. “We didn’t know that they had teleporting capabilities, we didn’t know that he could be gone. He’s been drugged and held captive for six years in their stronghold in Chile. After the war, he had been left for dead. He gathered his strength to go back to Jeff. It took him two years.”

Jared wanted to scream. He wanted to tell Chris to shut up, he wanted so badly to punch that concerned face.

“He doesn’t know any of us, except for Jeff, he remembers up until he got his powers and he remembers six fucking years of them trying to get at those memories and his powers and he remembers the two years it took for him to crawl out of that place,” Chris said quietly. “He’s...well his body is a mess...it’s weak-”

“Stop,” Jared growled, though it sounded more like a whimper. 

“Whatever his mind remembers it’s been locked away,” Chris went on, shoulder’s squared, hands ready. “It’s all in this little box that he won’t touch. Come back, please, see if he will-”

Chris’s jaw cracked under the impact of Jared’s fists. He didn’t retaliate, just sat on the floor. Jared stood seething.

Then Jared rolled his shoulders, calm again. “I’ll think about it.”

Chris cocked his head. “And where will you be while you’re thinking about it?”

“In fifteen minutes you can find out, or you can keep yourself guessing until I come back,” Jared said leaving the room.

That’s why they sent Chris. Because if anyone could ferret out the few remaining invaders it was Jared, and Chris was there to make sure that he didn’t go down as he took down every single creature that had kept him from Jensen for eight long years.

But, the jury was still out on if Chris was going to be enough to bring him back to headquarters.

**

Danneel hung up the phone and looked at Katie and Jeff.

“Well apparently we were right,” she sighed. “They’ve just booked a flight to South America.”

Katie looked very bored and examined her nails. “So what do we tell the mythical hero of the world, who is laying in that bed over there?”

Danneel got that worried look on her face. “The truth seems...”

“Like it’s going to give poor fragile Jensen a heart attack?” Katie asked dryly.

Danneel looked at Jeff imploring him with begging eyes. “What do we do?”

Jeff was the only guardian left. The other eight had died, mostly from saving their charges. They looked to him for leadership, to be an example of the people of a planet they didn’t remember, to carry on a heritage that they were unsure would last.

“Let’s get the others together,” Jeff said gruffly. “We’ll decide together.”

**

Jensen lay looking at the ceiling. He was exhausted. They were giving him physical therapy, but his muscles and bones were not reacting well to the treatments. His body was crippled in a way that he couldn’t fathom and his thoughts skirted around a big dark spot that he couldn’t get into.

Jeff had talked to him for a long time. He told him about his powers, about the other nine, about their fight, and about the win that he wasn’t around to see.

The rebellion had been fought in Jensen’s name and Jensen felt like he was a big disappointment to the memory. There were things nagging at him, but they were things that he couldn’t remember. Even Jeff’s story – Jeff, who was almost all white and seemed so very old – seemed to be missing some parts.

Jensen tried to remember, tried to break into his mental safe, but he couldn’t. Jeff told him that he had locked away the thoughts to protect them from his captors. When Jensen asked him what the key was, Jeff shrugged. 

Jeff had been his companion his entire life. The two of them knew each other inside and out. 

Jensen was a little disappointed by how badly Jeff lied these days, he was obviously leaving something out. 

But Jensen couldn’t spend all his time trying to suss out the truth. He hurt so badly. He tried not to show it when people were around, but when it was like this and he was just watching the screen of the past twelve years he let the ball in his throat have free rein, to push his eyes into watering. He didn’t know what brought the hurt. He didn’t know what was missing and that made it all even worse.

Jeff said that he had powers that aided healing, but those were locked up too. 

Everything he had become as an adult was locked up in that box. All he could remember was a childhood running, six years of captivity and two years of trying to figure out how to get well enough to go home.

Jensen felt it for a moment and then pushed it down, pushed it away again.

What he didn’t know was killing him.

**

The compound blew up and Jared and Chris watched it burn. Both had bruises and were covered in gunpowder and blood, none of it was theirs.

They were good, they had done the time, Jared had eleven years, Chris had nine.

Jared watched the place that Jensen had been kept for six years burn.

They both watched it flame to the ground.

“Don’t tell him about me,” Jared said finally.

“You sure?” Chris asked.

“That’s how their love works right? They fall in love with what they need,” Jared said, looking at the flames engulf the building. “I can’t be what anyone needs anymore.””

Chris wished he had brought one of the girls, or even Misha or Chad. He wasn’t the one who offered words.

“There is a nest in the rainforest,” Chris suggested.

Jared nodded and picked up his gear, accepting the therapy that Chris was providing.

**

“So what happened after Santa Barbra?” Jensen asked. It wasn’t the first time he had asked, but it was the first time Jeff answered.

“We went on the run, no more normal life,” Jeff said slowly. “We met up with the other Nine.”

“Really?” Jensen asked. “Do I like them?”

At that Jeff let out a laugh that surprised them both. “To greater degrees of yes. They are your family of sorts.”

Jensen opened his mouth.

“Jensen,” Jeff said firmly. “You have to understand. It was a lifetime ago, the period of time between when you were eighteen and when you were twenty-three seems so short. Those five years, you were happy Jensen; before you left you were happy in between the battles and in-between the running.”

Jensen opened his mouth, but Alona came in before he could speak. Suddenly his face went into that look. Jeff hadn’t seen that look since Jensen was eighteen. Wolfish seemed to be an apt description.

“Hi ‘Lona,” he said with that grin on his face.

Alona look at him with shock and confusion, she turned her head slowly to Jeff. “Is he hitting on me?”

Jeff had to laugh in hysterics. Jensen looked a little petulant, his ears burning with embarrassment.

“I never hit on you?” Jensen mumbled.

Alona’s eyes found Jeff unconsciously.

“No, Jensen,” Alona said, moving towards him. Her hands were magical, they could heal and destroy, they eased the ache, but it seemed the only thing that could fix him was locked in his own head. 

“Oh,” Jensen said. Not really wanting to ask about his extracurricular behavior, but knowing there was something there.

The looks the two of them were giving were driving him absolutely crazy.

“So did I have a life besides you know the saving of the world?” Jensen asked. 

It wasn’t important; it didn’t seem like something he should care about. He was tortured and held hostage for six years, confused and befuddled for two, but at that moment he just wanted to know if there would be any comfort among this ‘family’ that he didn’t know.

The look on Jeff’s face was totally blank. Jensen knew what that meant. Jeff could be a stone wall when he wanted to be.

Jensen flexed fingers that would never be a fist again with the amount of times they had been broken. He was lucky that none of them had been cut off. His legs had been freshly re-broken to straighten them, in hopes that one day, he would walk again. There was hope, but there was certainty if he did he would always have a limp.

He had years of torture freely playing in his head, but it seemed like there had to be something pretty somewhere in his life.

“I just want to know if anyone missed me while I was gone,” Jensen said looking Jeff in the eye. “Besides as a son, besides as a friend.”

Jeff swallowed. “Lona, get Danni and the boys.”

Alona was looking at Jensen with tears in her eyes, and she just nodded.

“Danneel was a great friend to you,” Jeff said quietly. “She thought your line should be there at the end. We knew that the war was almost over a year before it was done. Two months after the war ended she gave birth to twin boys. Yours.”

Jensen’s brain and heart nearly stopped.

“On our planet we have children for lineage...” Jeff began, telling Jensen about the difference between love and marriage, yet again. This time he left out his own relationship with Jensen’s father, this time he left out that love didn’t have to mean the opposite sex.

Jensen listened raptly.

Jeff told the story and for the hundredth time, he wished Jared hadn’t been adamant about no discussion of him. They were both his boys and for years his loyalty had lay with both of them. He had never had to choose. He was trying to respect them both, but he had a feeling that Jensen was going to wring his neck soon.

Danni’s boys would work for a bit, but if Jared didn’t come soon, all his secrets would be told anyway.

**

“I’m going to fucking rip that man’s arms off,” Danneel seethed. 

“Which one?” Alona said, eyebrow raised.

Danneel let out a growl. “Mostly Jared, but I’d take Jeff in a pinch, hell Chris better stay clear for not dragging Jared back here.”

Alona gave a little smile. “The situation is messed up.”

“He’s changed so much, and I get it,” Danneel said. “Jared had to grow up fast, but I’m so used to him being the one who kept us sane, together, and going on after Jensen. And Jeff! I mean what is with the guy code.”

“He’s protecting Jared,” Alona sighed, though both knew that wasn’t a reason. “Jeff loves Jared too. Jared was the one who got him out of the gutter when Jensen disappeared. Clean up your language, you’ve got impressionable two year olds.”

Danneel took in a breath and calmed herself. Finally, her eyes fell on one of her sons’ toys. “Jared sends them horses. I think he whittles them, like he used to do to kill time. He sends one almost once a month. He set eyes on their pretty green infant eyes and left us, but...”

She sighed and looked at Alona. “I know it sucked when the war started, but remember in the before? The abandoned amusement park we used to train in? All of us were clamoring for Jared to be on our side and Jensen so light I thought he was going to float away. He was my best friend back in those days. When the war started, he was still so goddamned brave. I think the only person he’d ever fall apart with was Jared, but he was so goddamned amazing and six years later I still wanted to win the war for him.”

Alona smiled a little. “I think we still keep going because of that.”

“Well Jared is still going because of Jensen,” Danneel muttered. “The war is over, the hero has been restored, and Jared is hell bent on keeping the gigantic wall in his heart erected.”

**

Jared sought out the remaining intruders with steel intensity. They were weak and separate and scared. He was out of practice, so it was an even balance. He went at it with a steely intensity, killing them with Chris by his side. The last two years hadn’t changed the fact that he knew their moves, could anticipate what they would do.

They tramped through the mountains, weapons in hand, blood gathering under their nails.

It was by the fire that Chris would offer his daily dose of insistence. Jared was pretty sure that Chris was getting calls and it was somebody else’s words he was repeating.

“He only remembers six years of hell,” Chris said. “You should at least give him something happy.”

“He’s broken too,” Chris would intone.

It was always like that, one or two sentences to remind him what he was running from. Chris wasn’t going to let him forget, to loose himself

Finally all the monsters were dead and there was nothing left in the area to slay.

“He’s been getting to know the boys,” Chris said.

Jared closed his eyes. Danneel was perfect and the two of them fit. There were times that he was so jealous of the two of them it hurt. Then Jensen would look at him and Jared knew that he was the only thing in the world for Jensen.

But those days were over.

“If you’re trying to get me to go home, I’m never going to go now,” Jared answered finally, the first time he had ever responded to Chris’ prodding. “She’s soft and sweet and has never had to choose which cities would live and die.”

Chris was silent.

They didn’t talk about it any longer. The next day they entered the rainforest.

Chris was sure that they were tilting at windmills now, that they had burned everything in the area left to burn, but he followed Jared into the jungle, looking, seeking, running.

**

Jensen had taken to coloring with the boys, Jay and Tris. They weren’t shy, but they didn’t talk too much. Jensen had trouble figuring out what to talk to two year olds about, so they would get together and color or Jensen would read to them.

He liked them, they were his. They were a little balm to his broken soul.

He liked to keep them entertained.

Jensen sat on one side of the chessboard; Jay and Tris sat on the other side. 

“The horsey goes in an L-shape,” Jensen said to the boys.

Jeff stood in the doorway, watching Jensen teach the twins chess.

“You hate chess,” Jeff told him.

Jensen waved him off and Tris grabbed for the queen to put in his mouth.

Jeff watched as Jensen moved awkwardly. His bones and muscles were too scarred to ever allow him to be the graceful boy who had jumped from tree to tree, but he moved to take the queen from Tris’ chubby hands as he carefully explained the board. They watched with rapt attention, probably understanding nothing, but enjoying hearing Jensen explain it.

“You hiding from the wildly hormonal women?” Jensen teased.

Jeff just watched and repeated. “You hate chess.”

Jensen looked up and swallowed. “It makes me feel closer…”

“To what?” Jeff asked.

Jensen shrugged. 

**

Chris had done some things in his life that he never expected. Fighting aliens, while it was a great childhood dream, he hadn’t thought it a reality until it happened.

Two years ago seeing Jared again on civil grounds seemed a bit far-fetched.

“I’m going to need a few more guys tomorrow,” Jared stated with a sigh settling down in their hut. “The irrigation ditch is not working quite right.”

Chris thought for a moment. “I can spare two, but we’re trying to rebuild the doctor’s hut.”

They had been in a tiny village, nearly destroyed by the intruders, for a few months. Jared had looked at the destruction and had Chris sighed. They decided to help the people find their footing again.

“I’ve destroyed cities,” Jared said one night in the dark, on the opposite side of the hut. “Not myself, but I’ve chosen which ones are more strategically sound to keep and I’ve watched people bomb the hell out of others because it meant survival. China and Australia, they’re pretty much extinct now. I did that.”

Chris didn’t know what to say. He had been in the corps, he didn’t know about such responsibilities. He had been responsible for groups of men and he had sent those men into battle, but he never had to make decisions of a god.

“You helped humanity survive,” Chris finally said. “Now you’re helping people here survive.”

**

 

Danneel would come by at times, with things that she and the boys had made for him. Jensen found that she really was a good friend.

“So artificial insemination eh?” Jensen asked after a few months.

Danneel’s jaw dropped and she had to smile before looking down again.

“We froze a lot of stuff, just in case, to ensure the Nine live on,” Danneel said, not looking at him.

“Was there a reason you chose mine?” Jensen asked.

Danneel closed her eyes. “You were my best friend. You were the first to fight, you were fearless. Now, you are the first to have progeny. Lona and Soph are pregnant now, but you have the first.”

“It wasn’t love was it?” Jensen asked, sad and regretful.

Danneel swallowed. “Never… Not with us.”

Jensen’s brow creased. She looked at him.

Finally Danneel scribbled on a piece of paper and then thrust it in his hand.

“It’s a login,” she said. “Memorize it, burn it, and find a secure com. Look for the personal photos.”

Jensen watched her retreating figure and then looked down at the slip of paper.

The paper read ‘Padalecki, J’ and 03011978.

Jensen was curious. He memorized it. The name took a few tries, but the number was easy, it was his birthday.

He knew that he had to be inconspicuous, but by now people thought of him as harmless, which offended him, but he really couldn’t let it bother him. Jeff always taught him to let people underestimate him. That’s how he had survived for years.

Jensen shuddered, closing his eyes against the memories. They said he had PTSD, as did most of the human population. Nobody had time for therapy any more. People just dealt with the hand that life gave them.

Jensen found himself in front of a com in an almost deserted desk and typed in the password. Windows popped up and files scrolled across the screen. It took Jensen a few minutes, but finally he figured out how to navigate it. Jensen scrolled through the windows and read through some of the files.

Jared Padalecki had been the human leader of the rebellion, when it had been the rebellion, back when it was still rebelling. He was now thirty-one and from San Antonio.

Jensen scrolled through some of the videos. He had seen himself give the countless speeches, and marveled that somewhere along the line he had gotten really good at being in front of people. Those videos had been cropped though and Jensen had never seen any raw footage. In every single video there was a tall, shaggy haired guy who stood behind to him.

Jensen found it strange that nobody had mentioned someone that he had obviously been close to.

He searched for the personal folder that Danneel had told him to look for.

He found the folder and Jensen started clicking through the many pictures. There were thousands of them. There wasn’t a single picture that didn’t have him without Jared. In most of him the tall guy had his arm around him. Jensen was getting a little dizzy looking at the pictures, at the smile not only on Jared’s face, but on his own.

They were so young, but they looked happy. Jensen felt his eyes buckle with tears, there was something about this guy. This guy definitely knew him. He seemed to know him well.

There was something about this guy, something that was in the big locked box in his head. Nothing had made him want to wake up, nothing had given him cause to want to see what was in there as much as this man’s face.

“Your twenty first birthday,” Jeff said from behind his shoulder.

Jensen jumped.

“I saw someone accessing Jared’s files,” Jeff said tiredly. “Security has gotten lax lately, but I always want to know if he’s in there. He has full access. Danni gave you the code right? It was a good guess, damn minx and damn him for not thinking of something more complicated as a password.”

Jensen looked at him. “Who is he?”

Jeff sighed. “He’s your best friend, you met him right after Santa Barbra, he helped us get out of San Antonio.”

Jensen swallowed and his gaze flicked to the picture on the screen.

It was one of the two of them. They were both under a sheet and there weren’t any clothes in sight. Jensen’s face was buried in Jared’s neck and Jared had his arms around him, they were laughing. The next one showed them shielding themselves from the camera and more obviously naked. The final one was of them laughing again, but kissing.

Jensen turned back to Jeff with an expression that clearly demanded an explanation.

“That was back at the amusement park, where we would train,” Jeff said gruffly. “Danni and Sophie took that one. They loved to barge in on you two. You’ll notice fewer photos after the invaders came. Less laughing, but he was always by your side. The two of you talked without saying much, you carried each other. You were a great team.”

Jensen looked at the screen, everything he had been looking for in Danneel’s eyes, the look that he knew was missing, the one he was sure he was supposed to have, was there. Jared had that look. There was the hero worship, the absolute certainty in the other person, the adoration. Jensen saw the smile and the dimples and the honesty as he looked at ‘picture’ Jensen.

‘Picture’ Jensen was looking back at Jared with the same look.

“He’s the one,” Jensen said slowly. “He’s the secret you’ve been keeping from me.”

“Yes,” Jeff said.

Jensen turned to him angrily. “I’m supposed to be your ward, I’m supposed to be the one you look out for. I’m your family. Why are you lying to me, he’s just some stranger.”

Jeff looked at him solidly and Jensen waited for Jeff’s crossed arms.

“No. No, he isn’t,” Jeff said with a little growl. “He’s my family too. Those boys and Jared, those are the loyalty I’ve had since you were gone, because they’re yours.”

“Jared is mine too?” Jensen asked.

“You were in high school when you met,” Jeff said tiredly. “You became friends and when we were leaving on the right side of a fight with the intruders you two were already intertwined.”

“I’m gay?” Jensen asked in a small voice.

Jeff sighed. “I don’t know you didn’t test it out. You met somebody that was everything and that was it for you.”

Jensen felt his eyes get heavy and he closed them to stop the flood.

“Where is he then?” Jensen asked.

“He’s somewhere else,” Jeff said. “I think that he’s wondering if thirty some year old you will have the same reaction as eighteen year old you.”

Jensen looked down at the screen where one of those large hands was covering his face, cupping it, and the lips kissing him. Jensen tiled his head. He had never really thought about it before.

But it looks as if he were into it, that he didn’t mind it.

**

Chris looked up at the sky; a hulking airplane was flying overhead. The back opened up and a huge palette began its descent. There were no parachutes on it, just blue light signifying that one of the Nine was arriving.

“Incoming,” Chris called. 

“Must be Hartley and Welling,” Jared sighed.

“I asked them to bring stuff,” Chris said. 

Jared watched as the palette fell, standing tall on it was Justin and Tom. Standing with their legs apart, hands on their hips. They always did go for a grand entrance. He walked up to meet them and they grinned at him in that wild way.

“Dude,” Justin said. “I missed you! I had to come out to the sticks to see your sweet new set up.”

Jared looked at the dirt streets and the buildings being held together with jungle rope.

“Shut it,” he told them.

Chris looked at the three of them, all well over six feet. Chris wasn’t even close to six feet.

“One of these things is not like the other,” Justin teased.

Jared rolled his eyes.

“We’re here for a few days,” Tom said. “What can we do?”

“Jeff just let you go to the jungle for a few days,” Jared said through a glare.

“We had to give you this,” Justin said, holding out a pink sparkly phone.

“Let me guess,” Jared sighed. “Katie?”

“She does miss your pink shirts from back in the day,” Justin informed him.

Tom was laughing.

Justin threw an arm around Chris and they walked into the village, they had their heads together talking. 

Tom just stood there and stared at Jared. He didn’t want to bring up the subject, but Tom was already there so he figured he should ask. Tom was the one you asked things of because he was the one who always gave the clearest answers. Justin floated in and out of your way, but Tom was the rock you couldn’t avoid.

“How is he?” Jared asked finally.

“He knows you exist, what you were to him,” Tom answered.

Jared closed his eyes against the memories, not the scary sad ones, but the ones where they had sat on the grass in the quad, just being high school students. He didn’t want Jensen to know.

“I’m trying like hell to remember him at eighteen,” Jared said softly. “I can’t. I can’t remember how we got here, I can’t remember what it was that did it for us.”

Tom cocked his head and thought before speaking. “It probably had something to do with you being there… You know, present?”

“Is he freaked out?” Jared asked.

Tom shrugged. “He isn’t anything. You’re a picture, a story, kind of like his being alive is for you right now.”

“I’ve had enough reality for a lifetime,” Jared muttered.

Tom gave him a long, blue stare. “No you haven’t. You’re not dead yet.”

**

Jensen hated Misha. 

He was telepathic and also an expert on relaxation and meditation. Jeff had put Misha in care of Jensen’s recovery.

Jensen knew Misha probably knew how much he hated him, if he was pushing too much or not enough. Misha was quiet and didn’t react much to thoughts or speech, he just plodded on. Jensen would call him a sadistic bastard.

“You are done,” Misha announced.

Jensen was sweating from the exertion of trying to use his legs. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Katie is pregnant, Chad is the father, she has terrible taste in men,” Misha drawled blandly.

Jensen looked up. 

“I gave you three things,” Misha said. “You owe me. I’m going to need you to do some dexterity things.”

Jensen shot him the look of death.

“I’m very sure that I don’t like you,” Jensen told him.

Misha smiled. “You do. I swear it.”

“Well, I have this block in my head, so I really don’t know that,” Jensen muttered.

Misha tilted his head. “I taught you that you know.”

Jensen looked up confused. “The block?”

“Yeah,” Misha said slowly. “I taught all of us how to do it, nobody outside of us nine know that we can do it. When we’re under duress we can take our powers and our memories, anything that they can use, and tuck it away. If we didn’t they would take us over and use us as weapons. That is how they destroyed our home. So the nine of us have a secret weapon.”

“Why didn’t you say so,” Jensen yelled. “I could be normal, fix me!”

Misha shrugged. “You spent six years with their best. You really think that we are going to be able to do it? You have a key, if you did it right it was a feeling, a word, and a sensation. You have to have those three things and if you don’t have it, it is going to break the lock. It has to be done right or else it might degrade the way out. Like sticking the wrong key in a lock.”

Jensen looked confused. “I have no idea. What I could possibly…”

“We do,” Misha interrupted. “We know that it is probably Jared. The thing is that he has to come here on his own terms, he has to be willing, which is why we’re not bringing him back until he wants to come back. The lock is tied to emotions and you will know if Jared is lying to you, part of you still knows him. You grabbed most things, but you didn’t grab everything and put it in the box.”

“What does that mean?” Jensen inquired softly.

“You hate chess,” Misha said quietly. “But Jared loves it. You won’t play with anyone else, you hate strategy, you like to boldly cut forward, but he loves it and you’ll play with him and try, kind of like with the munchkins. Also you hate kids and art, these aren’t separate from your personality, they are just little things you left hanging around. Things that Jared liked, so you still do them.”

Jensen felt his throat go raw in an attempt to hold back his feelings.

“I like him I guess,” Jensen said huskily. “I mean I don’t remember feeling so much like something is missing. I never even considered a guy and now I find out that one is my entire world.”

Misha had a knowing smile on his face. “And you’re really curious about sex aren’t you?”

“Stop reading my mind,” Jensen growled.

“You want to know if you enjoy the taking,” Misha said with a grin, starting to laugh. “I don’t need powers for that one, we lived in an abandoned building at an amusement park for a year, there wasn’t much space for quiet. You enjoyed it, you enjoyed it very much, and very often.”

Misha was giggling and Jensen was moving to swat at him. It was not a physical therapy approved method, but it was really working on Jensen’s dexterity.

“Oh Jared, so deep,” Misha said in falsetto. “Oh harder. Harder.”

Misha was laughing so hard he was crying and couldn’t move anymore. This was okay because Jensen had started laughing too, and had also crumpled to the floor.

They still hadn’t gotten their laughter under control when Jeff came in.

He just looked at them because he hadn’t seen Jensen laughing since he had come back.

“What have we here?” Jeff asked after a minute.

Misha ignored him and managed to turn to Jensen. “Don’t worry you two were pretty flexible with who was doing what, and let me tell you the places that you managed to find to have your constant sex meant that you needed to be flexible.”

They both fell apart laughing again.

**

Jared was having a bad day. The ox got out, gored a child and broke the dam. He was exhausted. The town was self-sufficient, but it felt good to be there, to be needed by the people.

He was sitting with the injured child when his phone rang. He picked it up, seeing the HQ ID.

“Hi is this Jared?” a voice came.

Jared sucked in a breath. He had listened to the videos for years; he had edited them and put them on the airwaves. Jensen’s voice wasn’t unfamiliar; he knew all the phrases and intonations left.

But those were an order of words that didn’t already exist. This was a tone that he hadn’t memorized. These were new Jensen words, real words from a real person.

“Yes,” he managed through his suddenly clogged throat.

“I’m Jensen,” the man said. “I think you know me.”

Jared sucked in another breath. “Yes, I do.”

“I’m trying to piece some things together,” Jensen said slowly. “You know, the time line of my missing life? The others have given me things and I thought, maybe, I would call and see if you could tell me some about how I know you.”

Jensen sounded so small, like he was unused to this. Jared’s heart ached, because something had indeed broken inside Jensen. Jared didn’t know that this was why he didn’t want to see Jensen, because suddenly that didn’t matter. Knowing that Jensen wasn’t snarky and bounding, killed him and he would do anything that Jensen needed him to do.

“So you found my number?” Jared asked, trying to give himself some time. “Which of the girls gave it?”

“Katie,” Jensen admitted. “She’s pregnant and defiant and weepy and romantic. I really get the feeling that I should be scared.”

“Holy shit,” Jared swore. “Katie is pregnant? No way.”

“It’s Chad’s,” Jensen offered. “If that means anything.”

Jared started laughing despite himself. “Chad. Oh dear lord. That woman has the worst taste in men, I mean I love the dude but I wouldn’t wish him on anyone.”

Jensen was silent.

“Oh I mean he is a great guy,” Jared offered, not knowing what Jensen knew about his own love/hate relationship with Chad. “He’s my best friend, but…”

“Oh,” Jensen said. “That’s okay.”

“Jen,” Jared said, falling so easily into how it used to be, years and everything didn’t matter because Jensen was alive and he was talking to him. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s your best friend? You love him?” Jensen mumbled quietly. “I mean that’s good, I’m happy for you, I just didn’t expect…”

“Only you, its only ever been you,” Jared said with more warmth than he had felt in years. “Did you hear the part about nobody should ever date him? He’s like my Danneel.”

“Oh,” Jensen said quietly.

“I hated her for a long time, you hated Chad for a long time,” Jared explained softly. “We just thought that, I dunno, the world was always changing so fast we couldn’t hold on and we thought that we’d lose each other, but really it was dumb. Because we…I mean did they tell you that much?”

“Yeah,” Jensen said. “Something to wrap my head around.”

“Sorry,” Jared rushed, trying to gloss over that uncomfortable moment.

“How did we meet?” Jensen asked.

Jared looked at the boy next to him who was still sleeping and then settled back and tried to remember, it seemed so long ago.

“You were in the office, the new kid,” Jared began to weave the story.

**

Jensen woke up the next morning and had breakfast with the pregnant women and Danneel.

“All I’m saying is that Katie is having Chad’s baby,” Sophia was saying.

“Shut up,” Katie growled and attacked her grapefruit.

“And I’m having Tom’s and Lona is having Justin’s,” Sophia continued. “Somebody’s gotta have Misha’s freaky mind reading baby.”

“I can hear you,” Misha said from the corner.

Sophia stuck out her tongue.

“We were told we have the children we want to have,” Alona said softly. “I wanted one, you wanted one, Katie got knocked up, I’m sure if we want to have another we can figure out who the daddies will be then.”

“You what?” Misha asked standing up, moving to stand in front of Jensen, searching his face. Listening to his thoughts.

“He’s coming back?” Misha inquired, looking manically giddy.

“Jared’s coming back!” Danneel exclaimed as she stepped towards Jensen and kissed his cheek. He looked at the floor.

“I talked to him last night,” Jensen mumbled.

“And…” Sophia prodded, rubbing her swollen belly.

Jensen didn’t look up, just blushed. 

“He’s not bad.”

Jensen said it so low it sounded like thunder.

Sophia let out a whoop. “The prodigal son returns! When is he getting back?”

“He’s coming back with Justin and Tom,” Misha said because Jensen didn’t look like he was ever going to speak again.

Sophia clapped her hands. “Let’s find a fatted calf.”

**  
Jared closed his eyes and pretended to sleep the entire flight from South America.

Eight years ago his heart had stopped beating with any life. Last night it had begun again. He could remember again what it was, what it was like.

He had begun to pay penance and it didn’t seem so bad.

He was finally going back.

**

Alona lay on his bed. Everybody was busy moving about, and in the ninth month of pregnancy she wasn’t doing as well as she should have, so she was staying with Jensen.

He was struggling to get his pants on.

“Fuck,” Jensen swore and sat down on the bed, his pants around his legs. He looked down at his legs and traced the scars there. 

“I can’t even put on my pants,” Jensen whimpered, his eyes beginning to water. “I don’t want to look like I can’t put on my pants. He saved the world for me and I can’t put on my fucking pants.”

“He thought you were dead,” Alona lumbered over to him and put her arms around him. “He spent all those years without you and it nearly killed him. He doesn’t care about pants.”

Jensen looked up at her, tears falling. “Then why was he gone? Why didn’t he come back?”

Alona carefully arranged them so he was lying on his side in what was left of her lap. She stroked his hair.

“Because he had to make the world safe for you,” she soothed. “Because he had to make it pretty for you before he could look at you again.”

She brushed the tears from his cheek.

“Because you two needed to wait until you were both ready,” she finished softly.

**

The Jeep drove through the dusty fields of Texas.

Jared drummed his fingers on the dash.

The four people in the car weren’t really speaking. Tension was overtaking everything.

The familiar building approached quickly.

Chris laid on the horn as they approached, and people came to the door. The car had barely stopped when Chris was out like a shot, running towards Alona.

“Baby,” he said in a soft drawl. “You got so big.”

“We were waiting for you to get back,” Alona replied softly.

He kissed her, rubbing a hand over her stomach.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “I love you. I’ve missed you so much.”

Justin and Tom got out of the car and stretched.

“Try not to manhandle or scar my kid too much,” Justin yelled out.

Chris extended an arm and then extended a finger, never taking the other hand or his eyes off of Alona.

Jared was the last one out of the car. Tom grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

“You’re a brother to me, but so is Jensen,” Tom whispered. “He’s been really hurt physically and if you dare flinch at the way that he looks I will end you.”

Jared didn’t hear the last few words. Jensen appeared at the door, supported by crutches.

The world stopped.

Everything just stopped.

Jared didn’t notice anything, he noticed everything. 

He walked over to Jensen. He saw the green eyes, the freckles, the lips, his goddamned ears, all there in front of him. He didn’t see anything except for Jensen, something he thought he would never see again.

“I’m sorry,” Jared said softly. “I’m so very sorry. I thought I was dead inside. I thought all that was left was objectivity, I thought that there were no feelings left, but I was wrong. I know you don’t know me and there are probably some speed bumps, but please just let me try. I love you so very much, I’m sorry if that freaks you out, but Jensen I do. I always have, ever since high school, just give me a chance, we’ll learn it all again.”

Jensen swallowed and tilted his head up as he looked at Jared’s face. He lifted his good hand up to Jared’s jaw.

“I’ve got really, really good taste,” Jensen said with a little bit of awe.

Jared was going to be respectful and take time and get Jensen used to him again.

But at that moment his very strategic brain failed him and he leaned in and kissed Jensen’s perfect, unmarred lips.

After a second of contact he pulled away and whispered, “I love you.” He then moved to take another kiss.

Jensen reacted and moved under those lips and Jared’s arms went around him.

Jensen let out a happy little sigh.

And then he slumped to the ground.

Jared held him as they slid to the ground before looking around wildly for Alona. Misha was there first.

“Nicely done Prince Charming,” Misha said taking Jensen’s pulse. 

Jared looked confused.

“You just unlocked him,” Misha said with a grin. “I pretty much knew it was going to be you, but I didn’t expect it to be so simple.”

Jared looked really confused but he held Jensen close.

**

Jared was sitting by Jensen’s side; he was surrounded by blue light.

“How’s the boy?” Justin asked leaning against the doorframe.

“The doctors say his power is knitting together his bones and muscles,” Jared said tiredly. It had been four days and he hadn’t been out of this room yet. “It is downright creepy. He’s creaking and popping. The first couple of times freaked me out. How is Lona?”

Justin bounced on his feet. “She just went into the room, should be soon now. Apparently bio dads are out of the room. She informed me, and I quote, that I was never allowed to see her vag.”

“Lona?” Jared said incredulously.

“Yeah Lona,” Justin said. “She is aggressive in this pregnancy thing. She was yelling about my stupid bigheaded genes. So I’m gonna let Chris do all the comforting birth stuff.”

Jared just looked at Jensen.

“Dude I’m having a kid!” Justin said, doing something like a dance.

Jared had to chuckle. “A girl to be exact.”

“I know,” Justin said with a grin. “She’s going to be blonde and kick ass and I’m going to have to build a castle and a moat and find dragons to guard her.”

Jared smiled at his enthusiasm.

“How are your kids?” Justin asked.

Jared just stared at blue glowing Jensen. “It’s just weird you know. They’re his kids, they’re her kids, I’m just weirded out how easily you guys are handling this.”

“It’s how we knew our lives would turn out,” Justin told him. 

“Your lives,” Jared defended.

Justin looked at him incredulously. “Are you serious? None of us grew up with any of the traditions, we all accept them though. Don’t tell me that you haven’t done everything you could for those two boys without speaking to them. Our idea of family is a little different, but you love Jensen and I know you love those kids, just be glad that we’re not back on the old world, your boy would be having sex with Danneel to make babies.”

“Asshole,” Jared muttered.

“They come and play with you,” Justin pointed out. “You’re getting to know them. You know that they’re yours. Danneel knows it too, that is why they’re named after you, just in case you forget.”

Jared leaned back and looked at Justin tilting his head.

“You’ve become really good at this,” Jared told him. “About being the peace time leader.”

Justin made a face. “Thanks for pointing out that war isn’t really my thing, but yeah we needed one and I showed up and did it. Is that okay?”

“My time is over,” Jared said softly. “So’s Jen’s. I want to raise horses and raise the boys.”

Justin looked triumphant. “See killer, you’ve got it already.”

**

Jensen didn’t open his eyes immediately. He just took stock of all the pieces of himself that had been put back together.

He had the missing years in his head, his body was healing and Jared’s voice was at the edge of his consciousness, reading to little giggling creatures.

Jensen opened his eyes to see Jared’s lap full of two year olds.

He was reading to them. Jay was leaning against Jared and Tris was actively poking at the book.

Jared looked over and saw Jensen. He told the boys to go find Danneel and they ran like their shoes were on fire.

Jared came over and knelt so they were at eye level.

“How are you feeling?” Jared asked softly.

“Whole,” Jensen said. 

“You remember?” Jared asked in a small voice, still standing as far as possible when it looked like he just wanted to jump into Jensen’s bed.

Jensen closed his eyes. “You were wearing a grey hoodie the day I met you. You liked to eat Swedish Fish while we went on scouting missions; I think that you ate up the planet’s supply. It took me an hour to get my hand down your pants the first time and you never asked, you never made me feel like I should, you waited until I was ready. You occasionally rub the back of my neck when you thought I was getting all uppity or flustered and I hadn’t done it first.”

Jared couldn’t meet his eyes. “I don’t know if I’m the guy you remember, the things I’ve done, the things I’ve ordered done…”

“I was held captive,” Jensen said quietly. “Neither one of us is the same.”

“I meant what I said,” Jared said softly. “We can learn each other.”

“C’mere,” Jensen grumbled sleepily, holding up his blanket. Jared crawled in with him. It was a rare night when they didn’t spent the night in the same bed, no matter the size. It was almost as if they hadn’t taken an eight year hiatus. Jared lay on his back, Jensen splayed across his chest.

Jensen’s hands glowed bright blue and he ran them over Jared’s arms, Jensen’s power seeped into him and Jared relaxed into the familiar touch. It was only like this with Jensen, it could only ever be like this with Jensen.

He wanted to cry because he had missed this so very much, he was humming and bathed in the perfect flue light.

Jensen was back.

And he was whole too.

**

“Danni will be here in twenty,” Jared yelled as he crossed the paddock. 

Jensen was riding with Jay on the saddle in front of him, while Tris had found some poop and was poking it with a stick. Jared scooped him up and threw the stick away from his hands. Tris pouted.

“How long is she staying?” Jensen asked, getting off the horse, and then lifting Jay off.

“Well she said all the babies were teething so she might stay here for the next year or so,” Jared answered.

Jensen snorted and took Jay by the hand as they went into the house.

The house was cluttered, a far cry from the Spartan interior that Jared had once kept it at.

On the mantle, among Jared’s carvings and the boys’ sculptures, was Jared and Jensen’s shared Nobel Prize.

“Katie is pregnant again, and is still refusing to talk about her relationship with Chad,” Jared continued. “But it’s making the other girls think about getting pregnant again. They’re thinking after Sophia’s wedding to Austin. Alona is adamant that she is not having another Justin bowling ball baby, so probably Misha’s. I think Danneel might do it with Tom the old fashioned way, but she’s being coy about it. Sophia will take Justin, even though Alona is run ragged with Kelsey.”

Jensen laughed and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad that you’re keeping up with the gossip.”

There were still hard days, but the scars on Jensen’s body were nothing more than silver spider webs, glowing when he used his power, like he was cracking from within. The mental scars were still weightier though. Jensen had nightmares and panic attacks.

Jared found it hard to make decisions. His once perfectly logical and decisive mind was riddled when it came to choices.

Jared held Jensen until it got better. Jensen would make the decisions when Jared just couldn’t.

But most days were spent riding and they had the boys often, when they weren’t off fixing some of the damaged landscapes of the planets. That one was one of the things that helped Jared. 

What helped Jensen most was just his daily life, his boys and his Jared. When the attacks happened the best thing for him had been to create a bubble and hold onto Jared. They’d lie in the blue light until Jensen could breathe again, and then they would lie some more. Then it would usually get needy and naughty.

It was a rebuilding, as was everything these days.

Tomorrow they would be off to Prague, which was one of the biggest European cities these days. It had been absolutely decimated under the invasion and Jared was still scared of the people’s reactions. Europe had been taken early and Jared’s suggestion to the Nine was that there were other places more strategic to secure before purging the invaders from Europe. By the time they had been able to get to it, it was in tatters of resistances.

Jared felt guilty about that every day.

When they won the Nobel Prize, it was the newly elected European leader who had given them the award. 

He had praised Jared for his quick thinking, for his determination. He had said that it was the living that were testament to Jared’s leadership. Without Jared, there wouldn’t be as many people left across the globe, there might not be any at all.

Danneel arrived and Jared was spreading peanut butter on bread. She bounded in and kissed Jared on the cheek before sitting with the boys. Jensen came over and gave her some milk.

“So Tom?” Jensen asked, patting her on the head.

She turned to glare at Jared.

“You don’t seem to understand the concept of a secret,” she scolded.

“You don’t seem to understand the concept of love in one area and breeding in another,” Jensen informed her.

She got a huge grin on her face and her eyes teared up. “I’ve missed you Jensen.”

Jensen looked at Jared.

Jared shrugged. ‘You do that, your favorite comeback is always to string together the first part of the sentence and add your own zinger.”

“And you do that too,” Danneel said softly. “You just look over at Jared to translate.”

Jensen looked down.

Jared came over and rubbed the back of Jensen’s neck. “We talked for a long time when you were gone.”

His voice cracked and Danneel continued. “We missed you and sometimes when we were tired we would just speak of you, of the little pieces of you so we could remember you were real. After awhile when it didn’t hurt so much we would just recall Jensen isms as a gauge of a situation.”

Jensen smiled a little.

“So anyway,” Danneel said, clearing her throat. “It has been ratified by the various worldwide councils. The nine of us are now officially Guardians, our children will be Guardians and that will be our lineage on this planet. We are starting a planetary council, we are the mediators.”

“What is Jared going to do?” Jensen immediately asked.

Jared rolled his eyes. “Jared is retired.”

Jensen pouted. “I wanna be retired.”

“You took the war off,” Jared pointed out and then thought about it. “Too soon?”

“Sure Jared,” Jensen mumbled around his sandwich. “Remind me again about being tortured.”

“Boys,” Danneel broke in. “Remember the littlier boys.”

Jensen and Jared looked guiltily at Jay and Tris.

Danneel grinned at them. “Jay, Tris, your daddies are very important. The Nine are now called the Guardians. Daddy Jensen is now the Guardian of Reconstruction, we gave him that so he can accompany Daddy Jared around the world when he fixes all the destruction in the world.”

Jared looked at the identical green eyes that were watching him and nodding. Occasionally Jared wondered where the hell they came from, they were far too quiet. He occasionally wondered if they were actually Misha’s, except they were mini-Jensen from freckles to green eyes.

“Do you guys want to come visit?” Jared said suddenly.

Danneel smiled at the boys. “Boys go take your sandwiches to the porch.”

They looked disappointed, but followed with out words.

When they were gone Danneel looked at Jared, a little pissed. “I don’t know if they want to go to a mostly warn torn area, with limited clean water and lots of things with sharp edges.”

“They don’t like showering and we can give them a tetanus shot,” Jared pointed out. “We’ll wait until we’re settled and then you can bring them, a month or so it will be okay for them, they will get a chance to see the world.”

Danneel didn’t look happy about this, she was about to open her mouth when Jensen spoke up.

“We’ll miss them Danni,” he said. “I know that for two years they were only yours, but we will miss them and we’re going to be traveling a lot.”

Jared shot him a grateful look.

“He does like his little Jensen shadows,” Danneel said with a sigh. 

“Hey,” Jared said. “Jensen likes his little Jensen shadows too.”

“That is just so egotistical and confusing,” Jensen replied. “I’m fairly sure I have real shadows.”

“How about when we settle it, when we make sure that it is safe, they come and see the world that we’re remaking for them. One day they’re going to be Guardians and maybe they should start learning at a young age. This is their world that we are fixing, they should know what they are getting into,” Jared said.

Danneel just looked at him and blinked, then she looked over at Jensen.

“Yeah I was on your side until that one,” Jensen said. “He wins with that.”

“Children are our future,” Jared said superiorly.

Danneel started laughing. “You’re a dork Padalecki.”

Jensen looked at him with a glow in his eyes.

Jared just shrugged and tried to be flippant. “Well Jensen is the one who teaches them to do everything, you’re the one who looks out for them, they need me to be a dreamer, plus you two are terrible at thinking outside of the box.”

His voice hitched a little at the end because Jensen was looking at him with his eyes luminous and his lips in a secret smile. That look didn’t fade as he spoke.

“And we’ll have Tom to teach them how to be the strong silent type.”

Danneel was looking between the two of them and then groaned. “I just cannot deal with the cute and the mocking and the dorkiness. Save the world and then I’ll send you the boys.”

Jensen was still staring at Jared.

“Oh my god,” Danneel said. “Stop.”

“Can’t help it,” Jensen said. “I’m happy. My kids, my Jared, my mother of my kids, and a whole world to rebuild.”

Danneel leaned back. 

That is when Jay wondered in with that far to innocent look.

“I think happy Jensen should be a parent and find out what Tris is doing now,” Danneel suggested.

“I’m good for that,” Jared agreed.

Jensen rolled his eyes, kissed Jared, made a face at Danneel and then went out to find his other son.

Jared watched him, making a face. “Maybe we shouldn’t have done that, last time I did he was juggling them. I’m thinking he’s still trying to figure out the whole keeping them in line thing.”

Danneel scrunched up her nose. “I hate his powers sometime. Come on big guy let’s go find out what our family is doing this time.”

Jared grinned.

Jared Padalecki was thirty-two years old, a leader in the reconstruction, and a horse farmer. He was the father of two, and as he had been since he was eighteen, he was Jensen’s Jared.


End file.
